


Wheels of Freedom

by someblokecalledrichbrook



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Cyclist!AU, Eren and Levi - Freeform, Eren is turned on by Lyrca, Fluff, M/M, Team bonding or spooning session cover-up, are so in love, mainly fluff, probably, we may never know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 19:52:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2440895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someblokecalledrichbrook/pseuds/someblokecalledrichbrook
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Eren is taken under the blue-and-white wings of Team Survey Corps, the world's most elite team of cyclists and Eren's indisputable idols,  he embarks on a life-changing journey of protein shakes, sweat, saddle sores, and realising just how good Levi Ackerman's ass looks in a pair of Lycra shorts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wheels of Freedom

**Author's Note:**

> “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race.” - H.G. Wells

 

_Another victory for the Survey Corps! Yesterday, June 27 th, team Survey Corps of California, USA, became the winners of the London Cycle Sportive for the fourth year running, after team leader Levi Ackerman completed the 162km route in a record-breaking time of 3hr 20min 51sec. We can only imagine how annoyed the previous record-holder would have been- had it not been Levi’s own record that was broken. Erwin Smith, fellow Survey Corps team member and competitor in yesterday’s race, finished second, with an equally impressive time of 3hr 31 min 2sec. He had this to say: “It’s been another unbelievable victory for us- we’re so proud of Levi, and of the team’s performance. Of course, we aren't going to let any wins get to our heads- we’ve got plenty more training to do, and plenty more events to compete in. We’re just going to keep giving it our all.” _

_Team leader Levi Ackerman, Cycling’s Strongest and the star of the race, declined to comment._

 

* * *

 

 

“One more minute, Jeager, come on! What are you, eighty? PEDAL!” 

In a part of Eren’s mind that wasn’t occupied by the burning in his legs and lungs, Eren considered why the fuck he took up cycling as a sport. A drop of sweat threatened to dribble into Eren’s eye, but before it could a towel was pressed to his forehead once more. His breathing was loud and laboured, even over Mike’s screams of encouragement and “KEEP FUCKING PEDALING." His lungs heaved and every muscle in his body was screaming for him to stop, until after what seemed like an age, Eren heard the words he’d been longing to hear since he’d swung onto the exercise bike:

“Aaaaaaaand you’re done. Great work, Eren,”

Eren collapsed over the handle bars of the bike, gulping in air, as he continued to pedal slowly to cool down. After a moment, Mike tapped the side of his head with a cool water bottle, and Eren accepted it gratefully, pushing himself off the handlebars into a sitting position to chug the bottle’s contents.

“That was really great, Eren,” Mike said happily, patting Eren’s sweaty back. “You’re gonna slay the competition.”

Eren’s pedalling slowed to a stop. “Yeah, if I can fucking walk again,” he groaned, rolling off the bike and dropping to a sitting position at Mike’s feet. Mike laughed loudly, throwing a towel to Eren, who proceeded to rub his hair vigorously.

“You don’t have to walk, you just have to pedal,” Mike grinned, as he sprayed the bike Eren had just vacated with a disinfectant spray and wiped it down. Eren did a few light stretches from his position on the floor, and when he felt like he wasn't going to collapse, Mike helped pull him up onto shaky legs, and together they left the nearly deserted gym. 

Eren pulled on a hoodie over his sweaty gym clothes as they walked, and he winced when he practically fell into the passenger seat of Mike’s car.

“Sore buns?” Mike asked wryly, when he noticed Eren’s pained expression.

“Sore buns,” Eren echoed in confirmation. Mike hooted with laughter and passed a protein shake to Eren, which he sipped as they drove, making a face each time he tasted synthetic strawberry. 

Eren had been training his ass off for months, now. The Sina Sportive was held every two years- a gruelling 100K route, raced under the hot, Californian sun. Eren had watched every race since before he could remember, and finally, at the age of eighteen he was legal to compete. The competition was just two weeks away, and Mike had put him through his paces every step of the way. Protein shakes had become his new best friend more than ever, and Jean frequently told him his ass was looking flatter than usual, from hours upon hours in the saddle. 

Connie reassured Eren that his ass had not lost any volume, and that Jean was just being an asshole.

Mike dropped Eren home, and with a reminder of his shift at Mike’s bike store the next day, and the instruction to go inside and get straight to sleep, Mike drove off, leaving Eren to drag himself into his house. It took all Eren's willpower to crawl up the stairs to his room, where he flopped onto his bed with a groan, not even bothering to shower. He blinked sleepily in the half-light, his eyes gazing blearily around his room at his bike propped carefully against his desk, which was strewn with empty protein packets and various papers. His walls were plastered with posters, photographs and newspaper cutouts. As he drifted off to sleep, Eren could just about read the writing in the cut-out closest to him, although he knew the words off by heart by now. A black and white picture showed a group of seven people, arms folded and backs straight, staring into the camera with serious expressions that just screamed "We rule the world." Which, for Eren, they did. Underneath the photo, it read:

**PICTURED ABOVE: (from left to right) Erd Jinn, Gunther Schultz, Hanji Zoe, Levi Ackerman, Erwin Smith, Petra Ral and Oluo Bozado. These seven young cyclists make up **Team Survey Corps, the new faces of cycling. Team SC are sweeping the world of cycling, emerging victorious from every race they encounter. Will anyone be able to stop them? We here at Cycling Weekly doubt it, their competition doubts it, and the world doubts it.****

* * *

 

 

 

Sina’s Cycles was always busiest in the summer months for several reasons. First, the weather brought hundreds of cyclists, both professional and amateur, onto the streets- and “with a shit-ton of cycling comes a shit-ton of money”, as Mike liked to say. Secondly- The _Tour De France_. The world’s hugest cycling race was bound to inspire more than a few people each year, and so Eren encountered his fair share of confused-looking customers as they stared at a wall-full of tires and whispered things like “ _What the fuck is a double-chain set?"_  Thirdly- and this, for Eren, was the most important reason- California was home to the world’s most successful cycling team to grace the planet with their heartbreakingly perfect team formations and five thousand dollar bikes:

The Survey Corps.

An elite team of seven world-class cyclists, led by Levi Ackerman (whose name was a sacred chant for bikies everywhere. Every time 'Levi Ackerman' was spoken, the earth was shrouded in a beam of holy light- according to Eren.) Levi was coined “Cycling’s strongest” by bikies and the media alike, and it was the truth. Every race the Survey Corps took on, every event they participated in, they won. They were unstoppable, they were the best of the best, and they were the loves of Eren Jeager’s life. For as long as the Survey Corps has existed, they had conquered every major event, and Californians everywhere had been inspired by the team from their home state into taking up the pedals.

Eren had never met anyone from the team, and had only been close to them when he stood in a crowd of spectators at a race and watched them pass at speeds Eren could only dream of reaching on a bike. The closest to contact he’d ever had was when his mother had taken him to Italy for his fourteenth birthday to watch the Giro D’Italia- he’d stood at the start line, frantically waving a sign saying “GO SURVEY CORPS”, decorated with golden star stickers and smiley faces. Erwin Smith had looked in Eren’s direction, noticed the sign and shot him a grin. It took everything Eren had not to faint.

Once, one of the team members, Petra Ral, had graced Sina’s cycles, in search of a new pump. Eren hadn’t been there at the time- he’d been sitting in a state of bewilderment in his biology class at Trost College, when a text from Mike had came through reading **Petra Ral was just in the shop!!! OMG!!**

Eren had gone home and cried.

Now, Eren was slouched behind the counter of Sina’s cycles, absently screwing pins together into a chain. Finals had ended the week before- not that Eren had done particularly well- he’d summed up each exam with an “Uh...fine...” when his parents asked how they’d gone, but he was quietly considering joining a church for some form of protection from when results come in August.

 Eren was brought out of his silent lament over his need for divine protection by Mike's disembodied voice calling him from within the labyrinth of the store.

“Yeah?” Eren called back, preoccupied with the chain

“Things are pretty quiet so d’you think you can keep things going here, and I’ll head out and get us some lunch?” Mike asked, coming into view and stuffing his wallet in his pocket.

Eren offered a quick salute, his eyes still fixed on the chain. “Uh huh."

Mike sidled up the counter, peering at Eren's handiwork. Eren heard him hum in approval. “Not bad, not bad at all. Hey- how’re the legs?”

“Mikasa had to carry me downstairs this morning,” Eren deadpanned.

Mike laughed loudly, slapping Eren’s shoulder before loping out of the store, throwing a “Bye, darling!” over his shoulder.

Eren worked on in the quiet coolness of the shop. It was relatively empty for a Thursday afternoon- two or three customers milled about, lost in the reams of all-things cycling in the sprawling shop.  Eren stood and wandered into the back room, a workshop where old bikes were brought back from the dead, in search of a particular screwdriver. He began opening and closing drawers, muttering to himself, and as he searched the little bell of the front door rang, alerting Eren to the arrival of a new customer.

“Welcome to Sina’s Cycles!” Eren called automatically, riffling through a drawer filled with screws, making a mental note to clean and sort the workshop- or better still, get Mike to do it.

“Hi!” a female's voice replied from the store, apparently the new costumer. 

“Hang on a sec!” Eren chirped, followed by a murmured “ _there you are_ ” as he discovered the screwdriver nestled among a pile of rusting bike chains. Twirling the screw driver, he strolled out of the workshop- and stopped dead.

“Holy _shit_.”

Hanji Zoe stood before the counter, her wild hair scraped into a pony tail, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses and a wide grin on her face. “Hi there!” she chirped, waving.

Eren continued to stare, unblinkingly, his jaw slack.  “You’re...You’re Hanji Zoe,” he managed when he realised what a goddamn tit he was making of himself.

Hanji nodded happily, beaming. “That’s me!” she stuck out a hand, and after a moment Eren shook it. It felt real. Everything felt real. _This was real_.  “Good to meet you. And you are...?”

Having a fucking heart attack, that’s what.

“Eren. Eren Jeager,” Eren managed, just above a whisper. Hanji Zoe was in the store. _A member of the Survey Corps was in the store_. He spread his hands on the counter to steady himself, his eyes never leaving Hanji, who was looking at him with obvious amusement. Eren licked his lips. “I...I am such. I am such a huge fan of you guys,” he breathed.

Hanji’s smile softened. “Awh, Eren! Thank you so much. That means a lot to us.”

Eren took a deep, steadying breath, willing himself to calm down. “Yep. I just. Yep. Okay. What can I get for you?”

“A pump. A Zelpha pump- you got those?”

“We do, yep. I’ve got one, actually, for, y’know, for my bike,” Eren babbled, moving away from the counter towards the back of the shop.

“Oh, you ride?”

Eren laughed, disappearing behind a shelf. “Oh, yeah! Like. All  the time. Every day.” Zelpha...Zelpha...

“Oh, cool! Hey, are you doing the Sina Sportive, then?”

Eren paused, sticking his head out from behind the shelf to stare at Hanji, a look of terror on his face.  _Competing against Team Survey Corps?_ He said a brief, internal goodbye to the title of Sina Champion. 

“Yeah- why...are you guys?”

Hanji laughed. “No, we’re not. We might come down and have a look, though...” 

Eren nodded absently, scanning the shelves for the pump. He found one, and plucked it from the shelf before returning to the counter. 

 “That’s great,” Hanji smiled when Eren showed her the pump “This store is awesome.”

Eren beamed. That’s it. He could drop out of college. Forget exams. He would never achieve anything greater than Hanji Zoe giving him a compliment.

“Thank you,” he breathed as he scanned the pump. He tried to give it to Hanji for free, but she wouldn’t hear of it and forced the money into his hand.  

“Thanks, Eren!” she smiled, taking the bag from him. “I’ll probably see you again soon- this is our new haunt,” she winked.

Eren stared.

“...I’m sorry?”

“The Survey Corps are re-locating! This town’s perfect for us, y’know? Plenty of pretty empty roads for training, the velodrome...good cycling stores,” Hanji winked.

Eren felt his heart in his throat. This was it. He was going to die in front of one of his idols. Farewell, Sina’s Cycles. Farewell.

“You’re...The Survey Corps... _You guys are moving here_?”

“Yep,” Hanji beamed, swinging her bag happily. “Erwin’s found us new headquarters, and we have apartments a few blocks away! It’s all super exciting, y’know? We haven’t had brand new headquarters in _years_. Anywho, I’ve gotta get going, I escaped packing under the guise of popping out to get another pump, and that was like three hours ago. Levi’s gonna kick my ass. Thanks for the help, Eren! See you soon!”

Eren dazedly returned Hanji’s sunny wave, and watched her skip out of the shop.

A few moments passed. Eren remained in the same spot, in complete and utter awe. Then he whipped out his phone and frantically sent out a text message.

**I JUST MET HANJI ZOE. SURVEY CORPS R MOVING 2 TROST HOLY SHIT**

A reply came seconds after Eren pressed send.

**Jean: U R FUCKING KIDDING ME. I H8 U. WHATS SHE LIKE.**

Eren recounted the encounter over text to Jean, whose texts grew increasingly more swear-laden as Eren progressed with the story.

Mike returned to the store ten minutes later with lunch.  “I have returned with burritos,” he announced, holding a paper bag to the sky as if it was an offering to the gods, “for I am a goddamn angel.”

When he didn’t hear Eren rejoicing with the usual burrito-evoked cheers, he glanced over to find Eren beaming at him with a face-splitting, stupid grin.

“Eren, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you look like you just did a line of coke off the counter.” 

“Mike,” Eren whispered, “even better...”

“Uhm, I wasn’t really counting the coke-snorting as...as a good thing...”

They sat at the counter together, and Eren recalled everything that had happened as he and Mike munched their burritos. The look on Mike’s face was priceless when Eren told him the Survey Corps were likely to become regulars for the shop.

“Oh my god,” he whispered into his burrito, “Oh my god, this is the best day of my life. Eren, I’m going to cry.”

The rest of the day was spent serving customers and gushing (on Eren’s part) about the Survey Corps moving to their town. The fact that the Survey Corps would be training...living... _existing_  in headquarterswithin mere miles of Eren made his heart actually squeeze. Their “headquarters” consisted usually a large house where the team lived during serious competition times. Here, they would sleep, eat and train together, and they usually had apartments nearby where they lived out of season.

All this, of course, Eren knew from reading masses of articles- not to mention he was part of more Survey Corps fan websites that he’d care to admit.

 

* * *

 

 

“You do know I hate you, right? I honest to god hate you,” Jean said, for what seemed like the 20th time that evening, after Eren retold the Hanji-encounter with great zeal. 

“I don’t know,” Eren mused, taking a swig of his protein shake. Strawberry. Disgusting. “It might just be me, but I’m detecting a hint of jealousy...”

Marco laughed, reaching across Eren to take another slice of pizza. “I’m getting that feeling too, Eren...”

Jean scowled, punching Marco’s arm. “Shut up. You’d be jealous too. He met _Hanji fucking Zoe_. Marco, you’ve ridden a bike almost as little as Eren’s passed a test-“

“Hey!”

“-but even you have an appreciation for the Survey Corps. They’re _legends._ ”

There were hums of agreement from around the circle. Eren had gathered them together- Mikasa, Armin, Connie, Sasha, Marco, even _Jean_ , for some celebratory pizza in honour of the Survey Corps moving to Trost, the story of which he’d recounted in a disbelieving whisper, as if saying it loud enough would scare the Survey Corps off back to their old headquarters, and away from Eren.

“Hanji said they might come and watch the Sina Sportive,” Eren divulged after a moment, eyeing Sasha with envy as she stuffed a slice of pizza into her mouth. Race training meant strict diets, and unfortunately strict diets did not equal pepperoni pizza, much to Eren’s dismay. The burrito that day had been a treat from Mike, and it would be the last burrito Eren had for two weeks. He quietly mourned the loss of all foods over a three percent fat content. 

“This is your chance, Eren,” Armin pointed out excitedly, poking Eren’s bicep. “If they come watch, they might notice you.”

Eren snorted disbelievingly. “Yeah, right, of course- ‘Oh look, Levi, there goes another average cyclist. Pedalling like an average person. Look at him cycle. Averagely.’”

Mikasa rolled her eyes. “Shut up, Eren. You’re more than average, and you know it. All of us train just as hard as you do, and what happens? You thrash us.”

“You fucking thrash us,” Jean echoed in an angry mutter, frowning at his pizza box. 

Eren flushed pink. “You really think they’ll notice me?”

“Dude, _yes_ ,” Connie said. His eyes were fixed on Eren but he somehow sensed Sasha reaching for his slice of pizza, and he slapped her hand away. “You’re fast. You’re _really fucking fast_.” He shrugged, rolling his slice of pizza up and squishing it into his mouth, as Sasha made distressed noises in response. “You’ll get noticed,” he managed around his mouthful.

Eren beamed and sipped his protein shake. “Thanks, guys,” he muttered, a blush spreading across his face.

“Okay, enough complements for Jeager,” Jean announced loudly, flicking Eren’s forehead accusingly.“If his head gets any bigger, he’s not gonna be able to cycle it up hills.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! So- this is Wheels of Freedom, my unbeta'd, messy, ongoing cycling AU! Chapters will hopefully be up weekly. Please drop me some Kudos and some feedback, as it would be greatly appreciated!


End file.
